Once you have submitted your Standard Application, our dedicated Records Management Team at Guinness World Records HQ will review the application. If you have applied for an existing title, or for a new title that we find acceptable, we will make the Record Guidelines available to you via your online account, as well as the Guide to Your Evidence. This outlines the evidence you need to submit in order for Guinness World Records to assess the outcome of your record title attempt. This document will also include printable templates of documents to submit to us.

All evidence must be submitted online. You can upload your evidence by logging into your account. Please do not send evidence to Guinness World Records by post as all file types are accepted online.

After this, our expert Records Management Team will assess your evidence. If your attempt is verified as successful, you will be eligible for one complimentary Official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS? Record-Holder Certificate to confirm your record-holder status!

Unfortunately we are unable to respond to letters, so please make an application online or check our contact page.

Please do not send us evidence before submitting an application and receiving your guidelines, as we will not be able to process it.

Guinness World Records has an expertly trained Records Management Team who undertake substantial research and verification checks to confirm whether a new record title has been achieved.

When you submit an application for a new record title, Records Category Specialists carefully assess it to confirm whether or not your proposal can be accepted. When you submit your evidence for a new or existing title, the Records Management Team will run comprehensive checks on this evidence to confirm whether it is sufficient enough to demonstrate that you have achieved the record title in question.

If you are submitting an application, it is important that you provide us with as much information as possible, including:

What you want to achieve

How, where and why you want to achieve it

Any links that may help our team to understand your proposal.

During the application process you will be able to search our entire database of records and find out if we already have a record matching your idea and what the target to beat is.

If your proposal for a new title is accepted, or if you are applying for an existing title, you will receive your guidelines to attempt the record; it is important that you read these and the evidence check list pack carefully, and document all requested evidence. This is so our team can assess all evidence provided and verify whether your attempt has been successful.

It is also important that you ask any questions well in advance of any record attempt. This is to ensure we have time to respond, as it can take up to 2 weeks for us to get back to you. If your application has been accepted, you will be able to send all correspondence via your online account directly to your records manager.

For new record ideas please note that Guinness World Records only recognises WORLD records. We do not verify national / country specific achievements.

All Guinness World Records record titles must fulfill key criteria including:

Measurable - Is it the fastest / longest / heaviest / most?

Breakable - Can the record be broken or repeated by someone else? All our record titles must be open to being challenged.

Standardisable - Can the record title be done universally? For example, it cannot be related to something restricted to a region.

Verifiable - Can the claim be proven? For example, a claim such as ‘the man who never drank water’, can never be verified unless the man spent his whole life from birth under surveillance by a witness.

One Variable – We can verify the largest painting but would not consider the largest painting by the most people.

Universal - The proposal must be something, or about something that is known to the world’s majority. It cannot be too specific / regional.

Substantially different from a current record - If your record suggestion is similar to something we already have, we will ask you to break the current record rather than approving a variation of the same title.

We do not accept applications based on subjective measures for example - beauty, kindness, loyalty.

Other activities that are not records include those which are not sufficiently challenging, those which are too specific to a single person or anything that is unbreakable.

We do not endorse unsuitable activities or those which could cause potential harm or danger to spectators / animals.

We do not permit people under the age of 16 to attempt or hold records which are considered unsuitable for minors. In these instances Guinness World Records works in association with the official regulatory body for the particular skill / sport.

As the world's unrivalled authority on record-breaking achievement, our role is to celebrate the world’s best, to inspire ordinary people and to entertain and inform.

For these reasons, we do not pay record-breakers for their achievements or for carrying out a record title attempt. We are also unable to cover any expenses, offer sponsorship or provide equipment for anyone attempting a record.

In addition, we are unable to make contributions to individuals, charities or businesses. This is to maintain our unbiased stance as the world's global record breaking authority and to ensure that we are truly inclusive of all applicants.

Some of the most frequently broken records include the Longest DJ marathon, the Heaviest item lifted with glue and the Most apples bobbed in one minute! Another record that is broken regularly is the Oldest person in the world, but the oldest person ever remains Jeanne Louise Calment who lived to be an incredible 122 years and 164 days old.

The individual who holds the most Guinness World Records titles is Mr. Ashrita Furman. He is attempting and breaking records all the time, but at last count he had more than 191 current Guinness World Records titles! Those include the records for long-distance pogo-stick jumping, most glasses balanced on the chin, most hop-scotch games in 24 hours and fastest time to pogo-stick up the CN Tower. Ashrita has inspired many people, and there is a growing number of prolific record holders nowadays.

There are more than 40,000 current records in our database, however due to space constraints, we can only publish around 4,000 records in the book each year which always makes it a tough decision for our editorial team and editor-in-chief!

If your record hasn't been selected for publication, there's always a chance that it may be included in future editions, or it may appear on our official website.

There are more than 40,000 current records in our database and we try our best to feature as many as possible online. We currently include over 15,000 records online which we update every week, so make sure to check the site regularly!

For any record titles associated with large amounts of food, our Record Guidelines stipulate that it must either be consumed or distributed for consumption after it has been measured. As with all record titles, the Record Guidelines must be adhered to in order to be considered a successful Guinness World Records title.

If you would like an official Guinness World Records Judge to attend your record attempt and provide on the spot verification, you may be interested in reading more about the services we can provide to your business.

Yes, depending on the type of record you wish to attempt. However, if you are under the age of 13, you will need either a parent or guardian to create an account and submit the application on your behalf.

Guinness World Records receives over 50,000 record applications a year - almost 1,000 applications every week. To allow us to provide the best possible service to everyone, we have placed a limit of 3 applications per person during a 24 hour period.

If you have reached your limit, you will get a message on your dashboard that will tell you how long you have to wait until you can make another application.

Priority Application / Priority Evidence Review

You can choose the Priority Application service during the online application process when you first submit your application. If you decide you want to speed things up a bit later, you can switch to Priority Application at any time. If you choose the Priority Application option, your application will be reviewed within 5 working days. ?Normal application processing can take up to 12 weeks*.

Once you have sent us your evidence, you can also purchase our Priority Evidence Review service to prioritise the review of the evidence and the approval of your record.

The Priority Evidence Review service is only available AFTER we have received your full evidence, and will ensure that your evidence is reviewed within 5 working days (waiting times are up to 12 weeks* for standard applications).

We currently accept 2 methods of payment for Priority Application and Priority Evidence Review: PayPal and Worldpay.

If you prefer to pay by bank transfer, please request an invoice when you come to the payment page during the application process and follow the instructions.

Please note: our Priority Application service is not an individual consultative service and only speeds up the standard application process. Using the Priority Application process does not guarantee that your application will be successful, and we do not issue refunds if your application is unsuccessful.

*Please note - Our usual wait times are sometimes extended when we have larger than normal volumes of applications.?

Once you have selected your product, you will reach the payment screen.

Once here, select the link “For alternative payment methods please request an invoice” at the bottom of the payment options

You then need to enter your details (name and address) that will appear on the invoice

Then select “Generate Invoice”

The next page will have a link to your invoice. Select “View your invoice”

Your invoice will load up in a new window. From here it can be downloaded as a pdf or printed

You should then arrange payment via bank transfer to the bank details listed on your invoice

When arranging payment, you must include your application reference number as the reference on the payment

Once payment has been received, your application will be passed on for processing. It is important that you include your application reference number on your bank transfer to prevent any delays in your application being processed

Your application will not start being processed until the funds are received into our account and then matched to your application by our payment team

Once you have selected your product, you will reach the payment screen.

Once here, select the link “For alternative payment methods please request an invoice" at the bottom of the payment options

You then need to enter your details (name and address) that will appear on the invoice

Then select "Generate Invoice"

The next page will have a link to your invoice. Select "View your invoice"

Your invoice will load up in a new window. From here it can be downloaded as a pdf or printed

Payment of an Invoice

You should make payment via bank transfer to the bank details listed on your invoice

When arranging payment, you must include your application reference number as the reference on the payment

Once payment has been received, your application will be passed on for processing. It is important that you include your application reference number on your bank transfer to prevent any delays in your application being processed

Your application will not start being processed until the funds are received into our account and then matched to your application by our payment team. Your application Status will show as "Awaiting Payment" until payment is received.

N.B. receipts are not generated when you pay via bank transfer

Invoices can be accessed again in future from your application page under the section “Invoice” by selecting the link "View your invoice"

The next page will have a link to your invoice. Select "View your invoice"

Your invoice will load up in a new window. From here it can be downloaded as a pdf or printed

You should then arrange payment via bank transfer to the bank details listed on your invoice

When arranging payment, you must include your application reference number as the reference on the payment

Once payment has been received, your application will be passed on for processing. It is important that you include your application reference number on your bank transfer to prevent any delays in your application being processed

Your application will not start being processed until the funds are received into our account and then matched to your application by our payment team

As a Guinness World Records record holder, you will be entitled to one complimentary record holder certificate.

All newly approved record holders will need to personally order their own Record Holder certificate direct from the Guinness World Records Store. Please log into the Store using your login and password for your Guinness World Records account and your free certificate will be added to your basket automatically. This certificate is free of charge. If you would like to order any further Record Holder certificates then please add these to your basket.

Please note: We do not currently provide ‘soft’ or electronic copies of certificates.

If your order is for your complimentary certificate only then you can choose to have them delivered for free via a non-trackable service. Please select “Free Shipping” on your checkout page and allow 2-4 weeks from receipt of your order. If you wish to upgrade to a tracked service, please choose one of the chargeable shipping options. You will receive a confirmation email once your order ships.?

If your order contains other paid-for items as well as your complimentary certificate, that you have chosen from the Store, then the Store requires proof of delivery for the paid for items, so unfortunately we cannot offer free non-trackable shipping in this instance so you will need to choose a paid for courier service to receive all of your items. If you incur any problems or have any questions concerning your order or the status of your order, contact our customer service representatives who are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT Monday through Friday.

Guinness World Records has decided to cease using verification codes for purchase of a certificate. If you wish to purchase a certificate, then please visit the Guinness World Records store and refer to the rest of the information in our certificates FAQs.

Please visit the certificates page in the Guinness World Records store and simply click on the “Add to Basket. You will be asked to sign-in using the email address and password that you use to access your Guinness World Records account.

Visit the Guinness World Records store certificate page and simply click on the ‘add to basket’ underneath the certificate of participation section to bring up the ‘Find your official (Guinness World Records) record breaking event’ box.?

There you will be able to search for a Record Title by entering the date and country of where the record took place. Once selected, click on continue to bring up the search results of all records that took place in that location and date. Select your Record Title, click continue and then follow the instructions on the next page to purchase.

If you can’t find your event, when trying to purchase a certificate in our store then it may just mean that the event has not been verified yet as an official Guinness World Records title (Please contact the event organisers to find out the status of the record attempt and whether they have submitted the evidence). If 16 weeks have passed since the record attempt date, then please contact us with the exact record title, date of attempt, location and Record Holder Name for further assistance.

If you do not know the date of the event, then we would advise at first, to try searching surrounding dates. If you are still unable to locate your event, then please contact the event organisers directly.

If you incur any problems or have any questions concerning your order or the status of your order, pleased contact our customer service representatives who are are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT Monday through Friday.

Before checkout, you will be asked to review and approve the wording of your certificate. Please do not proceed and continue to the checkout stage unless the wording of the certificate is absolutely correct. If there are any issues with the text on your certificate, please contact us. Please ensure that you clearly state the misprint or misspelling, with your application reference/claim ID number, exact record title and Record Holder name.

Guinness World Records have a standardised certificate formula that is adhered to when creating texts for certificates. We do not 'personalise' or make amendments to certificate texts UNLESS there is a clear error with the certificate text such as a misprint or a misspelling. If you are purchasing a Certificate of Participation, then you will be able to personalise your certificate with your name, following the instructions on the Certificate of Participation page.

If you would like to order more certificates for the same GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS record title, these can be added to your basket – up to a maximum of 100 – at any time during the shopping process. If you would like more than 100 certificates, please contact us at the Guinness World Records Store.

All Official Guinness World Record titles that you have successfully achieved will be located on the drop down list for additional certificate purchase. If you cannot locate your record title on this list, then we would advise you to login to your main Guinness World Records account to check the application status of your record title. If you have any questions regarding the status of your application, then please ensure that you submit an online correspondence using the online correspondence tool on your application summary page (located at the bottom of the page). You can access this tool by logging into your account and clicking on the record title on your dashboard page.

Technical issues with website or products

If you have a technical question regarding the Guinness World Records website, then please contact us. Please ensure that you provide us with your registered email address, name, application ID (if applicable) and if possible, screenshots of the issues you are experiencing.

Updates on applications and how to contact us

Guinness World Records receive over 50,000 record applications a year - that's almost 1,000 applications every week!

Due to the consistently high volume of applications we receive, the waiting times for a response to a Self-service application can be up to 12 weeks*.

Once we receive the evidence for your record attempt, it can take up to 12 weeks* for us to review your documentation and let you know if your record attempt has been a success.?

If you need a speedier response, we advise that you use the Priority Application service. This is a paid-for service which you can select when submitting your application. You can upgrade to using this service at any time by logging back into your account.

Visit our guide to evidence page to get an idea of the evidence you need to provide as part of your record attempt.

*Please note - Our usual wait times are sometimes extended when we have larger than normal volumes of applications.?

Guinness World Records are unable to respond to any postal correspondence that is unrelated to an existing record application.

All postal correspondence sent to Guinness World Records will be securely disposed of upon receipt, so please do not send any postal correspondence UNLESS it is in relation to an existing record application.

At Guinness World Records we evaluate each application individually and endeavour to get back to you as soon as we can, but due to the volume of applications we receive, it can take up to 12 weeks* to process, so please bear with us.

If you have received notice that your application has been accepted you can then use your online account, to send us a message to enquire about your application progress. To access your online account, log in and select the relevant application and scroll to the bottom of the page to the correspondence box. Your message will be delivered directly to the Records Manager dealing with your application.

This facility is only available once your application has been accepted and your guidelines have been released to you and it can take up to 2 weeks* to receive a response.

You can also check on the status of your application, update your profile details and application information, by logging into your account.

We receive almost 1,000 applications every week and sometimes experience delays. In the unlikely event you have not received a response from us within 12 weeks* of submitting your application, please contact us with your application ID, registered email address and proposed record title. Our Customer Service team will be able to look into this for you.

*Please note - Our usual wait times are sometimes extended when we have larger than normal volumes of applications.?

Guinness World Records Ltd. are headquartered in London, England. We also have regional offices in China, Dubai (UAE), New York (US) and Tokyo (Japan). We have 69 officially trained Guinness World Records adjudicators situated across 12 countries, speaking 20 languages. These countries include all our regional offices as well as Australia, Germany, India, Italy, Paraguay and Turkey.

If you would like to propose a record idea, break an existing record or receive the full guidelines and rules for a record, you will need to first create an online account, and then submit an online application. We are unable to provide any record specific information over the phone or email.

Please do not send us any applications or record evidence via post without applying online first. We are unable to respond to postal enquiries, however if you do have an enquiry that has not been answered on our FAQ page, then please submit an online enquiry.

If you have a question about a pending application, please log into your Guinness World Records account and send us your message using the correspondence box in the application page. This facility is only available to applicants who have had their applications successfully accepted and whom have received their guidelines and it can take up to 2 weeks* to receive a response.

If you have something you'd like to share with the Guinness World Records team, we’d love for you to tweet us @GWR or visit our Facebook page.

*Please note - Our usual wait times are sometimes extended when we have larger than normal volumes of applications.?

It can take up to 12 weeks* for us to assess your application and send you the guidelines for your record attempt.

Once we receive the evidence for your record attempt, it can take up to 12 weeks* for us to review your documentation and let you know if your record attempt has been a success.

If you need a speedier response, we advise that you use the Priority Application service which will speed the processing of your record application to just 5 working days. This is a paid-for service which costs ￡500 (in the UK) and $800 (in the US) for applications for existing record titles, and ￡650 (in the UK) and $1,000 (in the US) for applications for new record titles. You can select this service when submitting your application. If you have already submitted a Standard Application and decide that you want to upgrade to the Priority Application service, you can do so at any time. To upgrade please log into your account, click onto your record title. On the next page, click on ‘Upgrade to Priority’ and then follow the prompts.

Please note, using the Priority Application service does not guarantee that your application will be successful and we do not issue refunds if your application is unsuccessful.

Visit our guide to evidence page to get an idea of the evidence you need to provide as part of your record attempt.

*Please note - Our usual wait times are sometimes extended when we have larger than normal volumes of applications.?